Sparger type railroad car



Aug. 29, 1967 c. J. KORANDA SPARGER TYPE RAILROAD CAR 5 Sheets-Sheet 1Filed Oct. 29, 1965 1d 1 a 3% 9? 3W e L my Z a C. J. KORANDA SPARGERTYPE RAILROAD CAR Aug. 29, 1967 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1965Aug. 29, 1967 c. J. KORANDA SPARGER TYPE RAILROAD CAR 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Oct. 29, 1965 Aug. 29, 1967 c. J. l (ORANDA 3,338,635

SPARGER TYPE RAILROAD CAR Filed Oct. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 F 5'. L9,as

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SPARGER TYPE RAILROAD CAR Filed Oct. 29, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 6010770u: 70 LNT lfizfenzor; Clarence a] df'oranaa United States Patent3,338,635 SPARGER TYPE RAILROAD CAR Clarence J. Koranda, WesternSprings, 11]., assignor to North American Car Corporation, a corporationof Delaware Filed Oct. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 505,627 8 Claims. (Cl. 302-16)This invention relates to hopper type railroad cars for handling of drybulk commodities that dissolve in a suitable liquid and, moreparticularly, 'to a novel method and apparatus for use with a spargertype covered hopper railroad car for the expeditious removal of all ofthe bulk commodity, in the form of a solution, from the hoppers of thecars.

The more general practice of transporting and unloading dry bulkcommodities from railroad cars consists in shipping the commodity in boxcars to the destination where the commodity is removed from the cars bymechanical equipment. Such practices normally require the use of .mannedequipment, such as a power unloader for transferring the commodity fromthe car to a hopper conveying system, or transferring it directly to asaturator. Such an operation is costly, time consuming and usuallyrequires approximately ten hours to unload one hundred (100) tons ofsuch a commodity. Such prior practices result in substantial Waste orloss of the commodity in handling it and always presents the problem ofpossible contamination of the load by reason of the box car containing aquantity of some other material from a prior load in the car. Inhandling of certain types of dry bulk commodities, such material, whilein transit, cakes and forms large solid bodies of material which must bebroken up for convenient handling, thus requiring additional expenditureof labor. All of the foregoing conditions and disadvantages addsubstantial costs to the processors and users of such commodities.

Sparger type railroad cars, due to their design, are capable of handlingapproximately twice the tonnage of a conventional box car, and hence,for large quantity shipments involving the use of several cars,demurrage charges are reduced or eliminated, as compared to using boxcars, and the necessity for movement of the cars from a siding to adesired unloading position is likewise reduced or eliminated. By usingsparger type railroad cars, great savings are additionally effected byreason of the elimination of any need for pay loader type equipment andthe operator thereof, and there also results total elimination of wasteof material due to handling, such as exists in connection with unloadingconventional type box cars.

While there have been some attempts to utilize sparger type railroadcars for handling of dry bulk commodities, such use, in the main, hasnot heretofore been found totally acceptable or satisfactory for manyreason. The main disadvantage is that they necessitate the use ofsubstantial manual labor to effect and complete the unloading of thecommodity from the cars and in the cleansing of the hopper portions ofthe cars after the unloading and the time required to complete unloadingof cars has been found to be quite substantial.

Heretofore there have also been used hopper type cars for discharging ofvarious dry commodities by the introduction of warm or hot water orbrine or other liquids to cause the commodity to go into solution and inwhich cars standpipes have been employed for causing the solution tooverflow and discharge from the hopper but which cars have not beentotally satisfactory. Due to the location and arrangement of thestandpipe in the prior constructions, it has been found that indischarging portions of the-solution through such a standpipe certaintypes of dry bulk material, such as, for example, potassium chloride,resulted in the commodity again reverting to crystal type form aroundand in the standpipe causing plugging or restriction of flow of solutiontherethrough. When such a condition occurred, it necessitated theexpenditure of time as well as use of additional hot water or hot brineor liquid to dilute the solution and cause the crystals, so formed andaccumulated, to go into solution so that the remaining solution to beoverfiowed through the standpipe could then be discharged. Thisparticular problem obviously is more serious and becomes more aggravatedat low temperatures and will vary depending on the characteristics ofthe bulk material to be discharged.

In transporting certain types of material, with a view to expeditingunloading from the cars, such material has been shipped in tank carswith the material in the form of a solution such as sugar dissolved inwater, which, in eifect, forms a syrup for use in the production ofvarious types of consumable products such as, for example, soft drinks.Tank cars of this type, handling such a solution, necessarily had to beWell insulated to prevent freezing of the solution in low temperaturesand usually steam coils are provided for raising the temperature of thesolution in the tank car for permitting free discharge of the solutiontherefrom. Such a manner of handling materials of this general type hasbeen deemed unsatisfactory and inefiicient because of the substantialincrease in costs in the transportation of the liquid or water as wellas the high cost of construction of such cars to provide insulation andsteam coils.

More specifically, the present invention is directed to improvements insparger type covered hopper cars, as disclosed in my copending patentapplication Ser. No. 418,800, filed Dec. 16, 1964, now Patent No.3,316,023, by virtue of which improvements warm or hot water or brine orother suitable liquid is directed into contact with the commodity whilein the hopper to dissolve the commodity to form a solution, in whichform it is discharged from the cars.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a novel method andapparatus for efiiciently unloading dry bulk commodity from sparger typecovered hopper railroad cars by first converting the commodity to asolution.

Another object is to provide a novel method and apparatus for unloadingcertain types of dry bulk commodities from sparger type railroad cars byfirst converting the commodity to a solution and which unloadingoperation requires approximately one-fifth 0/5) the time normallyrequired for complete unloading of a similar quantity of such materialin dry form from box cars.

Still another object is to provide a novel method and apparatus forunloading dry bulk commodities from a sparger type railroad car whereina suitable liquid is introduced into the hopper of the car, into contactwith the commodity to form a solution which is completely and rapidlydischarged from the hopper in the car, and by virtue of which greateconomies and savings are effected as compared to other currently usedmethods and apparatus.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a sparger type covered hopperrailroad car embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the car with the hopper arrangement shown indot and dash outline, and the sparger and other apparatus being shown infull lines.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary, elevational view of the railroad car,a portion being shown in section and a portion being shown in elevation,with respect to two adjacent hoppers of the car.

FIG. 4 is a transverse, vertical sectional view, taken substantially asindicated at line 44 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view through the lower portion of oneof the hoppers, taken substantially as indicated at line 55 on FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a portion of the spargerapparatus for one of the hoppers, taken substantially as indicated atline 66 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view of the lower portionof a hopper, taken substantially as indicated at line 77 on FIG. 3.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the lowerportion of one of the hoppers, taken substantially as indicated at line88 on FIG. 1.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the upper end portion ofthe standpipe, taken as indicated at line 99 on FIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the lowerportion of the hopper, taken as indicated at line 1010 on FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a schematic view of the outlet and inlet connections andconduits of the lower portion of a hopper and the hose lines to beconnected thereto.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the raliroad car to which thepresent invention is directed and which is indicated generally at A isof the sparger, covered hopper type, formed essentially of metal and, asshown, includes three separate, connected hoppers B. Each of the hoppersis of generally inverted pear shape design in vertical cross section, asmay be seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings, and each of the hoppers isprovided with two normally closed hatches, as indicated at C, forloading of the hopper with dry bulk commodity. As may be seen in FIG. 4,each of the hoppers lateral walls 10 is, in the main, curved, with theupper portion being substantially semi-circular in contour and the lowerportions thereof, as indicated at 12, being curved in an inwardly anddownwardly converging direction. The hoppers transverse walls each comprise a downwardly inclined wall portion 14, and an upright wall 16which is a common wall with respect to two adjacent compartments orhoppers B.

For convenience I will now describe a single hopper unit and the spargerarrangement therefor. As may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the spargerapparatus is identical for each hopper, except that for the right handend hopper it is located in an opposite relation to that for the hopperat the left end of the car.

Surrounding the lower marginal edge portions of the curved side Walls 12and the inclined end walls 14 is a frame member 17 which is Welded tosaid wall portions. Said frame member includes a horizontally disposedflange 18 to which is secured by bolts 20, a lower hopper section 22,having a horizontal flange 24, registering with the flange 18, at thelower end of the main hopper body, as seen in FIG. 8 of the drawings.The lower hopper section includes a bottom 28, formed to provide twooppositely inclined portions extending generally in the direction of theend walls 14 of the hopper as seen in FIG. 10 of the drawings. Theinclined portions of the bottom are connected by a curved section toform a sump or trough. Welded to the ends of the bottom 28, of the lowerhopper section, are end walls 30, in the form of plates, to complete theclosure for the lower hopper section. The end plates 30 are each formedwith a large circular discharge opening 32, adjacent the lower edgesthereof, with the marginal edge of the opening 32 coinciding with thecurved section of the bottom 28, as seen in FIG. 10 of the drawings.Preferably the openings 32 are of a diameter in the range of 4" tocorrespond in size to a discharge conduit which is to be associatedtherewith as hereinafter described. Welded to the exterior of each ofthe end plates 30, in registration with the openings 32, are couplingadapters 36. The external surface of each adapter is formed with asuitable annular groove 38 and a pair of recesses 40 for cooperativeengagement with locking elements of a conventional quickconnect-disconnect type of closure unit 42, for effecting a sealedclosure for the end of the adapter 36, as seen in FIG. 8 of thedrawings. The closure unit includes a cap member 44 with a gasket 46within the cap member, positioned to abut against the end of the adapterand a pair of operating arms 48, pivotally connected at 50 to the capmember, said arms having locking members 51 for coacting with thenotches 40, formed in the outer wall of the adapter. Normally, when thecar is in transit and the hopper is loaded, the ring elemnts 52 at theouter ends of the arms 48, are interconnected by a suitable,conventional wire seal, not shown. It will be noted that the dischargeopenings 32 and their adapters 36, with their closure 42, at oppositeends of the bottom section of the hopper, are located at opposite sidesof the car, as seen in FIG. 4 of the drawings, for purposes of selectiveunloading of the commodity from the hopper at either side of the car, ashereinafter described.

Each of the hoppers of the car is provided with a sparger arrangementand while they are herein shown as separate arrangements, they may, ifdesired, be interconnected into a common system. Each of the spargerarrangements includes a pair of nozzles 56, which are mounted in thelower curved, opposite portions 12 of the side walls of the hopper, asmay be seen in the drawings. The pair of nozzles 56, are mounted withtheir discharge orifices facing in an upwardly direction in the hopper,above and adjacent the sump of the hopper, in staggered, offset relationto the geometric center of the hopper, as clearly seen in FIGS. 4 and 5of the drawings. The nozzles may be of any suitable type but preferablyof the form disclosed in my copending patent application Ser. No.418,800, for directing streams of liquid in upwardly, downwardly,forwardly and lateral directions. Each nozzle includes a tubular body58, extending exteriorly of the hopper, terminating in a circularmounting flange 60 for connection to piping, as hereinafter described.

Connected to the flanges 60 of each of the nozzles, at opposite sides ofthe car, are downwardly inclined branch conduits 62 and 64, which areinterconnected by T fittings 66, to a transversely extending main liquidsupply conduit 68, by virtue of which liquid is caused to be suppliedthrough the nozzles 56 to the interior of the hopper. The opposite endsof the main conduit 68 are provided with coupling adapters 70, which arenormally closed by a conventional quick connect-disconnect closure unit71 (as seen in FIG. 4) substantially identical, except for size, to theclosure unit 42 applied to the adapter at the outlet of the sump for thehopper, as shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings. The main conduit 68 issupported in connected relation to the nozzles by a pair of U bolts 72,securing the conduit 68 to the inturned flanges 12a, constitutingextensions of the side wall portion 12 of the hopper, intermediateadjacent hoppers, as seen in the drawings. The conduits 62, 64 and 68,for convenience, are in the nature of pipes and to facilitate assemblyand mounting of the nozzles in proper position, suitable pipe couplers74 are interposed in the piping constituting the conduits and forconnection to flanges 60 of the respective nozzles 56.

It is to be understood that the adapters and piping for liquid supplyfor the sparger system may be of any suitable size and preferably, whenutilizing a 4" diameter discharge opening 32 in the sump portion of thehopper, said piping and adapters for supplying liquid to the hopperwould be in the range of 2" diameter. It is further to be understoodthat, when liquid is to be introduced into the hopper, the quickconnect-disconnect closure 71, at the end of the main conduit 68 (at theside of the car where convenient to a source of liquid for the hopper isavailable), is removed and a suitable conduit provided with a quickconnect-disconnect coupler, of conventional design, is then connected tothe adapter 70, by virtue of which liquid is then supplied to bothnozzles in the hopper.

Each of the hoppers of the car is provided with a standpipe overflowdischargev arrangement, including an upwardly extending standpipe 75,located in close proximity to the geometric center of the hopper, asseen in FIGS. 4 and S of the drawings. The upper end of the standpipe isrigidly attached by means of a U bolt 76, to a transversely extendingstructural member 77, secured in the upper portion of the hopper, asseen in FIG. 4 of the drawings. The lower portion of the standpipe isconnected to an elbow fitting 78, by means of a pipe coupling 79, withone leg of the elbow extending through and welded in one of the inclinedportions of the bottom 28 of the sump of the hopper, as seen in FIG. 10.Connected to the free end of said one leg of the elbow 78, by means of apipe coupling 80, is a T-fitting 81, and connected to the opposite endsof the cross leg of the T, by pipe couplings 82, are a pair of laterallyand horizontally extending pipe sections or conduits 83, terminating atopposite sides of the hopper. The free ends of said pipes 83 are eachprovided with adapters 84, on which is normally mounted a conventionalquick connect-disconnect closure type unit 85. The closures 42, 71 and85 for the respective adapters 36, 70 and 84 are of a commerciallyavailable type and are illustrated in FIGS. 4, 7 and 8. The upper end ofthe standpipe isprovided with a suitable hood to preclude the commodity,when being loaded into the hopper, from entering the standpipe 75. Thehorizontal discharge piping for the standpipe, comprising the T-fitting81, coupling 82 and pipe sections 83, are fixedly supported below thehopper by a pair of U-bolts 87, connected to inturned flanges 30a of theend plates 30, of the sump portion of the hopper, as seen in FIG. 7 ofthe drawings.

The hood for the upper end of the standpipe 75, as seen in FIGS. 4 and 9of the drawings, comprises an elongated plate 88, of annular formationand which is fixedly attached by stud bolts 89, welded to the upper endof the standpipe 75 to support the bond plate 88 in spaced relation tothe upper end of the standpipe so as to permit liquid to freely flowinto the upper end of the standpipe.

The location of the standpipe 75, in close proximity to the geometriccenter of the hopper, is of substantial importance because in thislocation it is always subject to the maximum temperature of the water,brine or other liquid introduced into the hopper so as to insure at alltimes that the solution may freely overflow into the standpipe and thatthe latter is unobstructed by any build up of the solid materialinitially contained in the hopper. It has been found that such solutionsare freely discharged through the standpipe when it is so located, evenat relatively low outside temperatures and even considering thedifferent chemical characteristics of the material constituting the loadin the hopper.

To unload the commodity from one of the hoppers of the car, said car isfirst positioned adjacent a liquid supply line (of the type to insurethat the material constituting the load will dissolve therein and gointo solution), as well as adjacent a solution-receiving conduit. Thequick connect-disconnect closure 71 is removed from the adapter 70, atthe end of the main sparger conduit 68, and the liquid supply lineindicated at D, which is provided with a quick connect-disconnectcoupler E, at its end, is then connected to the coupler adapter 70 forsupplying liquid under pressure to the two nozzles 56 to the interiorand at opposite sides of the hopper. The quick connect-disconnectclosure 85, at the same side of the car, associated with the coupleradapter 84 of the overflow pipe discharge conduit 83 is removed and asolution discharge hose F, provided at its end with a quickconnect-disconnect coupler G, is then connected to the adapter 84,associated with the main discharge conduit 83, constituting a part ofthe standpipe arrangement. Said hose F is provided with a Y-fitting H,one leg of which is provided with a valve I, connected to a hose sectionK, provided at its free end with a quick connect-disconnect coupler Lwhich is attached to the adapter 36, associated with the dischargeoutlet opening 32 of the sump of the hopper. The other end of theY-fitting is attached to a hose M for conveying the solution to theplant. Either one or both of the hatches C of the hopper are then openedto assure venting of the hopper to atmosphere and the valve J isadjusted to a closed position. The pump for the liquid supply line D isthen started and liquid is then discharged through the nozzles 56 intothe hopper, into contact with the commodity therein. As above mentioned,the liquid may be water, brine or other material of a nature to insurethat, when it comes into contact with the commodity, said commodity willbe readily dissolved to form a solution. For certain types ofcommodities, the liquid introduced desirably should be either warm orhot to insure that the commodity rapidly dissolves into the form of asolution. The liquid is introduced into the hopper through the nozzlesto form sprays or jets directed in upwardly, downwardly and lateraldirections for effecting a rapid and thorough mixing of the commodityand liquid and causing substantial agitation of the commodity and liquidwithin the hopper to produce a turbulent action within the hopper forquick conversion of the commodity into a solution. After initiatinginjection of liquid into the hopper and into contact with the commodity,a pump associated with a main solution line M to the plant is thenplaced in operation. The level of the soltuion gradually builds up inthe hopper and overflows into the standpipe 75 and is discharged throughthe conduit 83, through the hoses F and M, to the plant where thesolution is to be'either directly used or discharged into storage. Thesystem continues to operate in this manner until all of the solidsconstituting the commodity are dissolved into solution; and, when thiscondition is attained, the pump in the liquid supply line D is turnedoff and the valve J is opened. The solution remaining in the hopper isthen discharged from the sump portion thereof directly through theoutlet opening 32 in the side wall of the sump portion of the hopper,into the hoses K and M for discharging into the plant. After all of thesolution has been discharged from the hopper, the pump for the liquidsupply line D is then again placed in operation and liquid is directedthrough the nozzles 56 into the interior of the hopper for effecting athorough cleansing of the entire interior surfaces of the hopper andwhich simultaneously removes any commodity residue that may haveremained in the hopper; and the liquid thus introduced into the hopperis withdrawn through the hose K into the main solution line M to theplant. After this thorough cleansing operation, all three hose conduits,D, F and K, are disconnected from the corresponding adapters 70, 84 and36, respectively, and the quick connect-disconnect closures 71, 85 and42 are then replaced on the respective adapters. The jets of liquid,introduced into the hopper for cleansing, impinge upon all innersurfaces of the hopper, as diagrammatically represented in FIG. 4.

The liquid that is introduced into the hopper is preferably undersubstantial pressure, in the general range of 40 p.s.i. or greater, soas to insure that the liquid rapidly penetrates through the body of thecommodity for thorough and rapid agitation and mixing to expeditecreation of a solution of the commodity. By this arrangement, there willbe no need to provide mixing apparatus at some plant installations forthe production of a solution of the commodity involved, as washeretofore required. This arrangement, in addition, for someinstallations, eliminates the necessity for storage tanks because itpermits withdrawing of the solution from the hopper of the car, as itmay be required and used in the plant. For other types of installations,it may be necessary that the solution be temporarily stored forsubsequent use.

It has been found that by virtue of the present novel method andapparatus it is possible to totally unload thirty-three (33) tons ofcommodity from one hopper in approximately thirty-five (35) minutes andto remove the load of commodity from all three hoppers of the car inabout two (2) hours. Hence, by virtue of the present invention, it ispossible to unload approximately one hundred (100) tons of commodity inabout one-fifth /5) of the time required to unload the same quantity ofcommodity from box cars as is the general present practice,

It will be noted, from FIGS. 1 and 3 of the drawings, that the spargerapparatus and, more particularly, the branch conduits 64, are preferablydisposed at an inclined angle so that when the load is totally removedfrom the hopper there will be no residual liquid in the hopper or pipingwhich might impair or contaminate the next load of commodity which maybe introduced into the hopper. This condition would be more likely tooccur if such a subsequent load of commodity is of a hygroscopiccharacter. In addition, the presence of such liquid in the system mightcause hardening of portions of the subsequent load of commodity, priorto the time that it is to be discharged from the hopper, and might alsopresent an obstruction to the rapid mixing of the liquid and commodityfor creating a solution.

Although I have here shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, manifestly it is capable of modification and rearrangement ofparts without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. I do not,therefore, wish to be understood as limiting this invention to theprecise embodiment herein disclosed, except as I may be so limited bythe appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of unloading dry bulk commodity, in the form of asolution, from a hopper of a railroad car comprising the step ofintroducing stream of liquid into the hopper, adjacent the bottom of thehopper, into direct contact with the commodity for creating an agitated,swirling mass and dissolving of the commodity into solution, the step ofcontinuing the introduction of liquid into the hopper until the level israised to cause the solution to overflow into the upper end of astandpipe located within and adjacent the geometric center of the hopperfor discharging the solution from the hopper, and when sub stantiallyall commodity solids are dissolved in the liquid the step ofdiscontinuing the introduction of liquid into the hopper and the step ofdischarging the solution re maining in the hopper through a dischargeoutlet at the bottom of the hopper.

2. The method defined in claim 1, wherein the streams of liquidintroduced in the hopper in upwardly, downwardly and lateral directionsto create rapid dissolving of the commodity into solution.

3. The method of unloading dry bulk commodity, in the form of asolution, from a hopper of a railroad car comprising the step ofproviding an upright standpipe within the hopper, adjacent the geometriccenter of the hopper, with the lower end of the standpipe openingthrough the bottom wall of the hopper, the step of introducing streamsof liquid into the hopper, adjacent the bottom of the hopper, intodirect contact with the commodity for creating an agitated, swirlingmass and dissolving of the commodity into solution, the step ofcontinuing the introduction of liquid into the hopper until the level israised to cause the solution to overflow into the upper end of thestandpipe for discharging the solution from the hopper and, whensubstantially all commodity solids are dissolved in the liquid, the stepof discontinuing the introduction of liquid into the hopper and the stepof discharging the solution remaining in the hopper through a dischargeoutlet at the bottom of the hopper.

4. In a railroad car having a hopper for receiving dry bulk commodiy,said hopper being formed with downwardly and inwardly converging lowerwall portions, sump means at the lower end of the hopper, a nozzlecarried on one wall of the hopper at the lower end of the hopper andhaving a discharge end portion extending into the hopper, a conduitconnected to the other end of the nozzle for supplying liquid to thenozzle, outlet means associated with said sump means and having anormally closed outlet opening, an upright standpipe within the hopperhaving a portion adjacent the geometric center of the hopper, saidstandpipe having an inlet opening at its upper end for receiving liquidoverflow from the hopper, a transversely extending conduit connected tothe lower end of the standpipe and having a normally closed outletopening for the discharge of the overflow.

5. In a railroad car, as defined in claim 4, having the stand-pipeextending upwardly throughout its length and wherein the lower endextends through the bottom of the sump means.

6. In a railroad car, as defined in claim 5, characterized by the sumpmeans having a pair of inwardly converging wall portions connected andformed to provide an inverted apex portion of rounded contour and havingthe outlet opening located in alignment with the apex portion and thelower end of said standpipe opening through one of the wall portionsadjacent the apex portion.

7. In a railroad car, as defined in claim 4, wherein the transverselyextending conduit is provided with normally closed outlet openings atopposite sides of the car for selective discharge of the overflow toeither side of the car.

8. In a railroad car, as defined in claim 5, having a hood mounted onthe upper end of the standpipe in spaced relation to its inlet openingand serving to preclude commodity when being loaded into the hopper fromentering said standpipe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,505,194 4/1950 Loss 302-14 X2,920,922 1/1960 Minnick et al 302-14 3,201,175 8/1965 Keves et a1.302-14 ANDRES H. NIELSEN, Primary Examiner.

1. THE METHOD OF UNLOADING DRY BULK COMMODITY, IN THE FORM OF ASOLUTION, FROM A HOPPER OF A RAILROAD CAR COMPRISING THE STEP OFINTRODUCING STREAMS OF LIQUID INTO THE HOPPER, ADJACENT THE BOTTOM OFTHE HOPPER, INTO DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE COMMODITY FOR CREATING ANAGITATED, SWIRLING MASS AND DISSOLVING OF THE COMMODITY INTO SOLUTION,THE STEP OF CONTINUING THE INTRODUCTION OF LIQUID INTO THE HOPPER UNTILTHE LEVEL IS RAISED TO CAUSE THE SOLUTION TO OVERFLOW INTO THE UPPER ENDOF A STANDPIPE LOCATED WITHIN AND ADJACENT THE GEOMETRIC CENTER OF THEHOPPER FOR DISCHARGING THE SOLUTION FROM THE HOPPER, AND WHENSUBSTANTIALLY ALL COMMODITY SOLIDS ARE DISSOLVED IN THE LIQUID THE STEPOF DISCONTINUING THE INTRODUCTION OF LIQUID INTO THE HOPPER AND THE STEPOF DISCHARGING THE SOLUTION REMAINING IN THE HOPPER THROUGH A DISCHARGEOUTLET AT THE BOTTOM OF THE HOPPER.